Pen and Ink

Hillary, Lucy and Meredith.

Lounging in bed on a rainy Saturday morning here in sunny South Florida, my mind started wandering, bumping around hitting a bunch of different things like a pinball machine.  So I decided a quick blog post was in order.

On the debates: I watched the debates last night. I miss Hillary.  But I can't wait for the Pallin-Biden match-up next Friday. Oh, that one's gonna be good!

On the new TV season:  I assume there's new shows this season, but I'm so out of touch with it. But some thoughts on my returning favorites: Meredith Grey is getting a little predictable. I still love Grey's Anatomy, but it's getting a touch stale. The lesbianic thing between Callie and Erica could be interesting, and they really have to give more scenes to Chandra Wilson. She's got the best character on that show. I'm also looking forward to Wednesdays -- Private Practice is great (I may be a big ole homo, but I got a hardon for Kate Walsh), and Lucy Liu is joining Dirty Sexy Money. If that show didn't have enough over-the-top characters as it was, Liu will put it right over the edge.  Lastly, Brothers and Sisters is back on Sunday. Talk about a guilty pleasure!

On Rent: This ground-breaking musical closed on Broadway after 12 years. Happily, they filmed the final performance, including appearances by some of the original cast. It's being shown in theaters midday today and tomorrow.  If you call me at noon today, you'll understand if I don't answer.

On cleaning: Maybe it's the rainy day, but I have the urge to clean and organize my house. I looked in a cabinet under the bathroom sink and it was all I could do not to get down on the floor and start organizing.

And one more thing: Back to the topic of TV...the season premiere of Law & Order: SVU the other night proved that this show is still amazing. The writing and acting was a first-rate as ever. But where was my TV husband BD Wong?

Let's clear this up.

This election cycle, I'm kinda confused. Let's see if anyone can clear this up.

First, If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic' and 'different.' But if you grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're an American story.

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim. Yet if you name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, and you're a maverick.

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.  Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, then you're well-grounded.

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, help register 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, 8 years as a State Senator of a district of 750,000 people, chair the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people, sponsor 131 bills, and serve on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works, and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

However, if your resume is:  local weather girl, 4 years on the city  council and 6 years as the mayor of a town of 7,000 people, 2 years as governor of a state of 650,000 people, you're qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches,  you're not a real Christian.  But if you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, left your ill wife, and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

If you teach responsible, age-appropriate sex education, including the use of birth control, you erode the fiber of American society. On the other hand, if you staunchly advocate abstinence-only education, while your teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're responsible.

If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, you don't represent America's family values.  But if your husband is called 'First Dude', has a DWI conviction, didn't register to vote until 25, and was a member of a group that advocated secession of Alaska from the USA, yours is the quintessential American family.

And, finally, if you're famous for your quick temper, you're the one to have your finger on the red nuclear button. (Or is that nucular?)

Retreat.

Brrrr...it's chilly up here in Maine.  I'm off on my annual retreat to Ogunquit with the Boston Boys. Here are some new photos that I thought I would share.

Too stupid for words.

Bernardo sent me this video from YouTube. It's too good not to share. Please tell everyone about it.

Shake it off.

I don't know what's wrong with me.

Lately, I've been lethargic about writing, reading, staying on top of what's going on in the world.  Regular readers of this blog have chided me about how infrequently I've been writing.  I have a stack of magazines -- Advocate, Out, Vanity Fair, Newsweek, New York -- that are collecting dust on my family room table.  The New York Times?  Ha!  I'm lucky if I get to read Arts & Leisure and Sunday Styles. Forget about news.  If not for Morning Edition on NPR, I couldn't even tell you who's running for president.  (Well, maybe I'm not that bad.)

It's general election season and I'm not even commenting. The founder of Manhunt gives a big gift to fuckin' McCain and I haven't said a word. 

And yes, I have a confession: I haven't read any of my favorite blogs in weeks (with all apologies to Martin, Steven and the others).

It's sad.

I've been trying to figure out why. Work's been busy, to be sure. But that much more than usual. I've been doing a lot of things around the house, so, yeah, that could be part of it. It's tiring work.

But as I search for a reason, I sadly keep coming back to one thing.  It's those damned websites Manhunt and Adam4Adam.  They're addictive!

Ever since I've been single again, I've placed myself back "out there." Not looking for a relationship, but just looking for connection.  And I've met some really nice people, a couple of whom are becoming friends. Friends are always good, but the process of meeting people, for whatever reason, is time consuming.

But a lot of it is just the mind numbing scrolling through pictures. It sucks you in (pardon the pun) and doesn't let you go.

There are a lot of people saying that we should all cancel Manhunt memberships in protest of the co-founders $2,300 donation to McMoron. I've got stuff to say about that, but maybe it's not a bad idea if for no other reason than to stop wasting so much time.

Time that could be better spent reading, writing, thinking.  I have to shake this stuff off!

Dancing through life.

Birthdays are a good time for reflection.

I haven't had much time for that during the past few days as I prepared for a big pool party/dinner yesterday, a soiree that just happened to coincide with my birthday.

There were gardens to tend, a house to clean, food to cook, and all sorts of decorative touches to the house to make. 

And then there are the unexpected -- but very welcome -- weekend houseguests.

For two months, Cary has been taunting me about a birthday surprise.  It was to be Friday and I had to dress a certain way and not bring anyone else.  When I arrived at his apartment Friday evening, there was my birthday surprise -- in the form of Chris and Drew from Boston. I was totally shocked, not just by their sudden appearance in Fort Lauderdale, but the fact that everyone in my life knew about this and kept it a secret.

The party, which I had originally intended for earlier in the month and not as a birthday celebration for myself, was a success.  A nice mix of friends old and newish, as well as some of their guests whom I met for the first time.

But it was a little bittersweet.

A man I met last week was supposed to be here, but he stood me up. Stood me up! On my own birthday! I should have seen it coming, though. He did something similar to Cary just a few weeks ago.

Another friend was at the party, someone I have some interest in. He had suggested that he might spend the night, but alas, he left to walk his dogs.

So I spent my birthday night alone in bed.

Now as I sit here, contemplating life on the morning of the first day of my 47th year on this planet, I'm feeling a bit rejected. (I know I'm being totally self-indulgent and whiny, but hey, it's my blog.)

One guy stands me up on my birthday.  Another guy I went on a few dates with a couple weeks back just started ignoring me. Another friend, who says he is interested in me, moves to Newark, New Jersey without a word. (I had it out with him yesterday!)

This post is whiny and sounds like I'm sad, which I really am not. I have wonderful friends, a nice home, a good job, and my health.  This past spring I felt the need to be single and by myself for awhile. I need to go back to that. Because, as women have been saying for years, men suck.